Fever Dreams
by Hoodoo
Summary: What if mutants woke up one morning and had no powers?
1. 1

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution or its characters. I make no profit from this. Rated PG-13 for some language, underage smoking, and slight sexual references.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Fever Dreams  
  
By Hoodoo  
  
  
  
"Don'tcha think we oughtta do somethin'?"  
  
"Do what? We take her to a hospital and she freaks out, who knows what'll happen? Besides, Mystique is supposed to be taking care of this sort of thing."  
  
"She's been so sick . . . what do you think, Pietro?"  
  
A quick muffled reply, which she couldn't make out.  
  
"We gotta do somethin'! What if she got somethin' we can catch? What if she's contagious? What if-"  
  
"Just calm down, Toad! We'll figure something out. Mystique will do something." A pause. " I think."  
  
A thin moan escaped Wanda's throat. No one heard it, but the conversation drifted away. She couldn't tell if they actually began speaking in whispers, or if her ears suddenly refused to work.  
  
This sickness was fooling her brain. How long had she lain here? How many days have passed? She was alternately hot and cold. She saw figures, but when she called out to them, they were phantoms. Images of Lance, with Todd looking worried over his shoulder, offering her ginger ale, mingled with the apparitions. It was hard to determine what was real. It was hard to think coherently.  
  
This fever was burning her up. She wanted to make sense of the images she saw. She couldn't. Her body was exhausted, and with another helpless moan, Wanda fell into restless, uneasy sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Upon waking the next morning, Todd stretched and cracked his back.  
  
He paused.  
  
Cracked his back?  
  
His back didn't crack. It was limber. It was flexible. It never, never cracked.  
  
Concerned, he dropped from his bed to the floor, into his customary crouch. But that wasn't right either.  
  
It hurt.  
  
Now more concerned, he flicked his tongue toward a few flies bumping for escape against the window. Nothing. He looked down, hard, at his mouth. He could only barely see the tip of his tongue passed his nose.  
  
Todd sat down hard on the floor.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Even if he were the last one up, Pietro was the first out the door. He ran fast, he thought fast-everything around him was almost moving backwards in comparison.  
  
This morning, however, he couldn't shake the feeling of vertigo nauseating him. He forced himself to be calm, take a breath, and check his heart rate again.  
  
It was slow, too slow. About 75 beats per minute.  
  
He wanted to sprint, to find Mystique or Lance or somebody, but his sprinting was more of a quick jog. His feet felt mired.  
  
More panicked, Pietro called out for help as he loped through the house.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mystique heard Pietro's cry, and thanked the lord she never trusted the boys enough to leave her door unlocked at night. She didn't want anyone to see her.  
  
Mystique, mistress of disguise, was no longer. Her skin was slightly tanned, her eyes green. She hadn't planned this shapeshifting, and she couldn't change it. This was who she was.  
  
Unable to hide herself, unable to fool people and have the upper hand, for the first time in her life she was scared. She refused to unlock the door and help the frightened boy in the hallway.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
From his reinforced bed, Freddy heard Pietro as well. But try as he might, the Blob had become what he christened himself, the unmoveable.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lance calmly continued brewing his morning coffee. He had heard Pietro, but didn't rush to help. Yells and threats were commonplace within the Brotherhood household.  
  
He did, however, look up when Pietro burst into the kitchen.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
Pietro was uncharacteristically out of breath and close to tears. "I c- can't, c-can't-I can't move!" he stuttered thickly.  
  
Lance remained indifferent. "Are you high or something, Pietro?"  
  
"No, goddamnit! Listen to me!" he screamed. Lance jumped at the sudden sound. Pietro's voice cracked as he continued. "I can't move! I can't run! I'm slow and I think I'm dying!"  
  
Lance took a long close look at the other boy, and realized his face was as pale as his hair. Pietro really was beside himself; he really looked ill. Lance silently offered him a mug of black coffee without a word and began pouring himself another.  
  
Pietro, desperate for anything, took it. Before any more was spoken, however, Todd stumbled into the room.  
  
"Hey," he said with no emotion in his voice. "Lance, you got any smokes? This is my last one, an' I think I'll need a bunch more, yo."  
  
He gestured with a shaking hand to the almost-finished cigarette between his lips.  
  
The half filled mug slipped from Lance's grip and shattered on the tile floor. The coffeepot, luckily, only had a few inches to drop before it met the countertop. Pietro's drink fared better. Even with a good look at the younger boy, his wooden, too-slow fingers didn't release their hold on the mug.  
  
They all stared at each other for a long while. Nothing was said; there was nothing to say. 


	2. 2

The alarm clock blared its typical inane morning chatter. As loud as it was, Jean Gray only half awoke under her warm blankets. With an impatient sigh, she flexed and mentally hit the snooze button.  
  
The deejays continued their pointless babble.  
  
More annoyed, but still not fully awake, she tried again.  
  
The same irrelevant prattle.  
  
Her typical wake-up routine broken, the redhead sat straight up in bed with murderous thoughts directed toward her clock radio. Mentally she grabbed it and pitched it against the wall.  
  
The talk was replaced by a parody song.  
  
Frustrated and angry, Jean snatched up the device and threw it to the wall physically. It cracked and became silent. With another annoyed sigh, she slammed herself back to her pillow, determined to sleep just a little bit more.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kurt yawned and rubbed his eyes, blinking at his reflection blearily in the mirror. It blinked blearily back at him.  
  
I always seem to get the early morning workouts with Mr. Logan, he thought to himself, running a quick comb through his hair. I wish he would remember I've got homework. Maybe he'll let me go early . . . nein, who am I kidding?  
  
He sighed. At least I don't have to disguise myself around him. He actually wants me blue and fuzzy, tail and all. Says it's something to do with working with what I've got.  
  
Automatically Kurt felt to remove the small holographic projector from his wrist. It's funny how things become second nature, he continued thinking. I don't even remember putting the image inducer on when I woke up . . ..  
  
His eyes fell on something lying beside the sink. His image inducer. He came to realize his fingers were working on nothing at all on his opposite wrist.  
  
Kurt gulped and stared a little harder at himself in the mirror.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rogue woke up with a headache and wondered if she could milk it enough to not go to school.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Everything was bathed in translucent red, just like every morning. Just like every day. It was such a part of life Scott barely even noticed it any more.  
  
He had showered-eyes tightly shut, of course, he knew the placement of soaps and towels by memory-dressed, checked over his history homework, and was just about to head downstairs for breakfast when a burst of crackling static from the mansion's intercom system interrupted him.  
  
"Attention please," Professor Xavier's voice boomed. "All students are required to meet in the dining room immediately."  
  
With another crackle, the intercom cut out.  
  
Scott pondered over the message for a moment, then shrugged. He gathered his school supplies and left his room.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her headache still threatening to split her head, Rogue lurched from her shared bedroom gracelessly. She was still in her pajamas, but felt horrible enough not to care. Scott was walking down the hallway toward her.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" she asked.  
  
He shrugged again. "No clue. Are you okay, Rogue? You don't look well."  
  
"Ah've got a killer headache-" a sudden rush of queasiness made her sway.  
  
Scott reached for her, to steady her, automatically grabbing for her elbows. He noticed she wore no gloves.  
  
"If you feel this bad, you really need to go lie down again," he told her. "I can let Professor Xavier know-"  
  
"Come on you two-we're going to be late!" interrupted Kitty. Chronically tardy, she was tugging her sweater on as she ran from the bedroom. She barreled down the hall toward them, heedless of her speed. "Let's go, he said to hurry-ooh!"  
  
Even as she called to them Kitty ran, habitually shifting her molecules to pass through them both. Instead of phasing, she ran full speed into Rogue, pushing her into Scott and knocking them all to the floor. Rogue instinctively grabbed Scott's bare arms as she fell, and Scott, unable to protect his face, lost his glasses as his head flew back and the weight of the two girls knocked the wind from him.  
  
"Sonofabitch-Kitty!" Rogue gasped.  
  
Kitty, dazed, pushed herself up. She put a hand to her face and pulled it away bloody.  
  
"You're bleeding all over! Get off!"  
  
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Kitty's voice was on the edge of hysteria.  
  
Rogue abruptly changed her tone. "Kitty, listen. It's a bloody nose. Just a bloody nose. Tip your head back and pinch it." She demonstrated to the scared younger girl the technique. "Don't worry about cleaning it up yet-just go get some ice on it. Okay? Ah've gotta see if Scott's all right. Okay?"  
  
Kitty nodded awkwardly, her head tipped back. "Y-yeah. Okay. I just freaked out, you know, with running into you and all. What's going on?"  
  
"Ah don't know. Go get some ice and we'll figure it out."  
  
Again Kitty nodded, and carefully stood up. She kept a hand to her nose, and Rogue noticed her steady herself against the wall as she continued down the hall.  
  
Rogue paused for a second, and moved back to Scott's side.  
  
"Scott, are you all right?"  
  
"I think so. Nothing feels broken," he replied. "Hand me my glasses."  
  
Rogue watched her own bare hand stroke his forehead. "Ah'm not giving you your glasses, Scott. Ah want you to open your eyes."  
  
"What? Are you crazy?"  
  
"No," she answered thoughtfully. She paused again, then added. "Everything's a little off this morning. Will you trust me? Will you open your eyes?"  
  
Scott licked his lips. For a brief moment, he thought about his life up to this point. He thought about Rogue. He wondered what could possibly be happening to make this morning so different, then slowly, for the first time in so many years; he voluntarily opened his eyes without the protection of his ruby quartz glasses.  
  
"Your eyes are blue." Rogue spoke softly, a note of wonder in her voice.  
  
Scott nodded. His brain was almost overwhelmed by sight. He blinked rapidly to make sure everything was still real. "Everything's so bright!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Well, duh," she replied, laughing.  
  
Scott broke into laughter with her. "We should go somewhere and talk, Rogue."  
  
She snickered again. "You mean blow off the meeting that Professor Xavier ordered?"  
  
He nodded solemnly.  
  
Seeing he was serious, the butterflies in her stomach tied themselves up in knots. Bewildered but hopeful, her headache forgotten, Rogue agreed. 


	3. 3

Lance was used to people-girls, mainly-either sneaking glances or watching him with not-so-subtle appraisal as he walked the hallways of Bayville High. Todd was accustomed to it as well, but other people's stares were usually laced with loathing. Today everyone was gaping for a different reason. As much as he hated people pointing and laughing at him, it was at least familiar. This scrutiny was even more unnerving, and it made him wish Lance hadn't talked him into coming to school today.  
  
"Forget them," Lance advised unhelpfully.  
  
Todd gave him an evil look in response.  
  
The warning bell rang, and students scattered like quail for their classes. Lance caught a glance of Kitty rushing along with the tide. Something wasn't quite right about her.  
  
Ignoring Todd for the moment, he called, "Kitty! Over here!"  
  
He stood against the pull of students and caught her upper arms as she came closer. He was able to examine her as she stood in front of him. Shocked by her bruised face and more shocked by the flakes of blood still crusted around her nostrils, he demanded,  
  
"What the-? What happened to you? Kitty, what happened?"  
  
"I keep running into things!" She choked back tears. Carefully, because of the swelling, she wiped her face and looked up. She gasped in surprise. "Todd?"  
  
He shifted uncomfortably. "Quit staring, yo."  
  
"But-but you look so . . . normal!"  
  
Again Todd shifted from foot to foot. "I know." Gone were the yellow tinged teeth and eyes. Gone was the unnatural sallow skin. Gone was the characteristic hunch of shoulders. One of his hands went to his face to touch it reverently; both Lance and Kitty could see it was an unconscious movement. He desperately wanted another cigarette. "But I couldn't control what I looked like before, an' I can't control it now. So quit staring."  
  
Kitty still looked astounded, but was able to honor his request and turned back to Lance.  
  
"What about you, Lance? Can you-"  
  
"Tolansky!" a familiar, snotty voice interrupted her.  
  
Automatically, Todd ducked. A frantic glance around told him Duncan Matthews was stomping this way, and no quick exit was available.  
  
"What's this, Tolansky?" Duncan spit, stopping in front of the younger boy and poking a finger into his chest. "I heard these rumors, and had to see if they were true." He stopped poking and grabbed Todd by the shoulders to study him critically. "What'd you do, freak, take normal pills this morning?"  
  
Todd's lips tightened but he remained silent.  
  
"Let him go, Matthews," growled Lance.  
  
Duncan barely took his eyes off Todd. "Back off, Alvers. I've got nothing against you, just this little prick. Take your girlfriend and get out of here."  
  
"Duncan! Put him down!" Jean came running up behind the trio.  
  
The jock squeezed Todd's shoulders painfully for a second, then let go and turned to her. "Hey, babe. I was just talking to some friends here. I wondered where you were this morning."  
  
The normally polished Jean Gray looked harried. "I've had a bad morning. Don't push it, Duncan."  
  
He was about to take her arm and move her away from the other three, but a teacher opened the door of her classroom to bark,  
  
"The warning bell already rang! Get to your first period class, people!"  
  
The four realized they were the only ones still in the hallway.  
  
Duncan looked properly chagrined and smiled appropriately at the teacher. "Yes'm. I'm on my way."  
  
Placated, the teacher closed her door. Duncan tried to tug Jean away from the others, but she pulled back and stayed put.  
  
"Fine then! Be that way. Catch you later, freak!" he promised, shoving Todd out of his way as he stormed passed.  
  
"I am so out of here," Todd exploded. "Pietro had the right idea holing up in the house today."  
  
"Everyone's like this? Even you guys?" Jean asked.  
  
Lance nodded.  
  
"Then I'm with Todd. The Professor wanted us to come to school to keep our minds off of this, but there's no way I'm concentrating on regular stuff today. Lance, you've got a jeep, right? Come on, let's go." Jean started off down the hall toward the exit doors.  
  
Kitty, Lance, and Todd all exchanged surprised looks. The perfect Jean Gray never skipped school. But rather than risk another teacher seeing them and forcing the going to class issue, the three hurried after her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You should compare notes with Kurt," Jean told Todd, pulling the hair from her face as Lance drove aimlessly through the city.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah."  
  
"He seemed to be taking it pretty well. He always wanted to look more normal anyway. Although he did say was surprised how tired he got walking everywhere!" she giggled.  
  
Todd, who would have rather been left alone, snapped, "Do you always talk this much?"  
  
"What?" she replied, startled. "Sorry! I guess I'm just nervous, is all."  
  
He sighed, a little guilty he was sarcastic. "Hey, I'm sorry, yo. I'm just not used to having girls talk to me like I'm a regular guy, you know?"  
  
"Yeah, I suppose."  
  
"Hey!" Kitty interrupted, draping herself over the back of the front seat. "Jean, what's with your hair today? Like, it's a little frizzy, you know?"  
  
"Oh," she said self-consciously. She smoothed it down, again. "I guess I use telepathy more than styling products to keep it straight."  
  
Todd snickered. Jean glared at him, but he didn't stop. "See? Takes a little getting used to, don't it?"  
  
In spite of herself, she smiled.  
  
"So do you know where Scott and Rogue were today during Professor Xavier's meeting?" Kitty continued. "I mean, I bowled them over and all, and fixed my nose up, and got to the dining room late, but they still weren't there! And they didn't show up, either. Where do you think they are?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Scott Summers and Rogue had both snuck out of the mansion while the rest of the household met, per Professor Xavier's instructions, in the dining room. They spent most of their day wandering the grounds.  
  
Scott was continually amazed by the amount of color in the world. Rogue hadn't realized he never knew roses weren't just red, but came in varieties of shades. They spent hours in the formal rose garden while he exclaimed over them all. The pale silvery lavender buds on one rare bush fascinated him.  
  
Rogue herself was quiet, but reveled in the knowledge that she wasn't forced to wear gloves. In fact, she removed her obligatory transparent green overshirt and walked with Scott in a haltertop. She touched him often. Each time a sweet tingle raced from her fingertips to flood her body. She felt like she wanted to cry.  
  
As they meandered through the large estate, when Scott wasn't pointing out that blue jays were actually blue, and not purple!, they spoke of school, and training, and dreams, and life.  
  
It was an enjoyable day for both, and both secretly hoped it wasn't a dream they'd soon wake from.  
  
After missing lunch but snacking on apples from the orchard, Rogue surprised herself with daring and brazenly leaned to kiss Scott Summers full on the mouth. After a split second of astonishment Scott kissed her back with more passion than he realized he had 


	4. 4

The rest of the day sped passed in a haze. Former mutants reveled in newfound freedom, or huddled in dark corners sobbing. Everyone was off balance, and few dared dream what the future held.  
  
As the sun dipped below the horizon on Bayville and the stars winked on one by one, each person drifted apart, alone, to consider the possibilities and drop into sleep.  
  
Pietro, feeling dried up inside, hiccuped. Despite the awkward position he had curled himself into, he slept.  
  
Kurt was exhausted too, but only from the rapture of not having to hide.  
  
Scott and Rogue held each other in the wide expanse of a queen-sized bed.  
  
Todd sat in his room, the only light from the tip of his cigarette, watching the fireflies outside in the yard.  
  
Kitty applied another ice pack to her face and hoped some of the bruising would be gone in time for school tomorrow.  
  
Freddy still struggled for breath.  
  
Jean Gray, not being able to hear half-snippets of people's thoughts, found herself alone for the first time in a long while, and was suddenly very scared.  
  
Lance wondered aloud to himself where Mystique had been all day, and wondered if she would make an appearance tomorrow.  
  
Eventually, everyone slumbered.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning, Kurt was ecstatic to jump out of bed. He almost cried when he saw blue skin and yellow eyes smiling back at him in the bathroom mirror.  
  
Rogue did cry, hard, heavy sobs that shook her and an unconscious Scott both. In defeat, she fumbled for the ruby quartz glasses on the bedside table she knew he would need when he awoke.  
  
Kitty was disappointed her face was still decorated in black and blue.  
  
Jean sat straight up in bed, snapped out of sleep with the deep emotions and half-formed thoughts skimming though her mind. She smiled.  
  
Pietro, although still feeling dehydrated, was beside himself in joy. He ran two laps around the town without becoming winded. He hugged himself in happiness.  
  
Todd, not knowing what to expect, flicked her tongue to the window and caught a fly. He wasn't sure what he felt. He stayed in bed with another smoke.  
  
Mystique, too, was pleased her shapeshifting ability had returned. In the back of her mind, however, a small scrap of fear remained. She would never be completely confident in her power again.  
  
Freddy stood up, then wandered down to the kitchen. 


	5. 5

Halfway through the night, Wanda's fever broke, and she slept more peacefully. She opened her eyes when Lance knocked politely and quietly came into her room.  
  
"You're awake," he said. "How do you feel?"  
  
"Like I'm back from the dead," she replied, her voice gruff from disuse. "I'm so glad my fever's gone-I was having the weirdest dream. Everyone was in it, you guys and the X-men too. But everyone was different. It just went on and on and it was hard to tell what was real . . . you know the type? But I'm awake now, and everything is back to normal."  
  
She didn't understand why Lance was both laughing and crying.  
  
  
  
fin 


End file.
